Rose Plaza Gets Marty’s Thumbs Up

01/08/2010 | Comment

Marty Markowitz has decided to split the difference on Rose Plaza. He is recommending approval (with modifications) on the basic rezoning of the Certified Lumber site (the change from manufacturing to residential use) and disapproval (with modifications) on the applicant’s special permit applications (to increase the height of some buildings, etc.).

Reading between the lines, Markowitz’s thinking seems to be that the base rezoning is consistent in height and density with other waterfront rezonings and that the applicant is providing the basic level of affordable housing (20%) in exchange.

The biggest issue for the BP on the rezoning itself was the guarantee of affordability. Even though the applicant says they plan to use the Inclusionary Housing program and other benefits to provide 20% of the units as affordable housing, those units are not guaranteed. A developer (the applicant or someone down the line) could decide that the density bonus and tax abatements are not worth the extra cost of building the affordable housing and just do a market-rate project. In response to prodding from Markowitz, the applicant has committed to a deed restriction guaranteeing that at least the 20% affordable housing will be built. Good on Marty for that.

The special permits are another issue in that they add value to the project over and above the base rezoning. With the special permits, there would be fewer towers (which represents an efficiency of scale in construction costs) and those towers would be taller (creating better views and higher psf sales prices). In exchange for that added value, Markowitz lays out a menu of modifications, which he “hopes the City Planning Commission and the City Council will give strong consideration to.”

These modifications (which also appear to be the conditions for the approval of the base zoning) include: 33% affordable housing (with the portion above the 20% as moderate- to middle-income housing); a higher proportion of two- and three- and four-bedroom units in the project; the inclusion of a supermarket in the retail portion of the project; the rebuilding of the entire Division Avenue street end (not just half, as the applicant is now obligated); and a strong, non-binding, participatory role for Community Board 1 on issues such as design, environmental clean up and the like.

With the exception of the supermarket, these modifications match very closely the issues cited by CB1. From the applicant’s point of view, the rezoning might be the most important thing, but going forward, CPC and the Council have a pretty clear – and consistent – road map for what will make this a good project. That is probably why people on both sides of the issue think this is an “excellent resolution”.

Domino Public Review

01/06/2010 | Comment

A correction to my post of the other day. The Domino public hearing at Community Board #1 will be held in February, not next week. The most likely date is 9 February, the date of the February board meeting. Stay tuned for further information.

(The delay to February is a quirk of scheduling – because the certification by City Planning came so close to the date of the January board meeting, there was not enough time to put it on the agenda and give public notice of the hearing.)

Charter School Inks Deal at 33 Nassau Avenue

Believe High School Networks, an organization that operates various charter schools in the city, is taking a big lease at 33 Nassau Avenue (which is across the street from McCarren Park, back behind Automotive High). It looks as the organization has leased the entire 16,800-square-foot second floor of the building, and will put its offices and a charter high school in there. (Locally, Believe operates the Believe Northside Charter High School, the Believe Southside Charter High School and the Williamsburg Charter High School – BNCHS opened this year across McCarren Park at Ericsson JHS.)

It’s Here – Domino Rezoning Certified

01/04/2010 | 1 Comment

Proposed Domino development, view south from the water side.

It’s been a long time coming, but the Domino Sugar Refinery rezoning is finally upon us. The Draft EIS has been completed, and City Planning is expected to certify the application today, allowing it to enter the public review.

As before, the project promises a lot of affordable housing (660 units) in return for a hell of a lot of market-rate housing (2,200 units), a lot of open space (four acres), and a heap of parking (~~acres~~ 1,900 spaces), scads of retail space (125,000 square feet) and even more community facility space (150,000 square feet). The project also still includes a 14-story tower on the Wythe Avenue end of the upland block and a zoning envelope that is substantially larger than anything approved during the 2005 waterfront rezoning or since.

The biggest change since the preliminary presentations is that the project has now added some 50 stories (100,000 square feet, distributed among five or so towers) of commercial office space to the Grand Street end of the development.

If all goes according to schedule, the public review will kick off with a presentation to Community Board #1 next week, followed by CB1’s land use committee review in early February. The full board could vote as early as 9 February, and then it is on to the Borough President.

More eye candy after the jump.

Continue…

The Bloomberg Era, Part One

Nate Kensinger nails it.

[During the Bloomberg era], many historic structures were demolished along the industrial waterfront to make way for developers. Neighborhood icons vanished, like the smokestacks of the Long Island City Powerhouse, erased from the skyline in 2005 by luxury condominiums. In Brooklyn, the rapid pace of development claimed so many historic structures that by 2007, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed Brooklyn’s entire industrial waterfront at the top of their list of “America’s 11 Most Endangered Places,” stating “historic dockyards and factories are being demolished by developers anxious to cash in on the area’s newly hip status.” Some of the industrial structures lost included the Greenpoint Terminal Market – a potential landmark which was burned to the ground in 2006; the Todd Shipyard – a working shipyard demolished in 2006 by Ikea; the Revere Sugar Refinery – a neighborhood icon which guided ships into the Eerie Basin until being demolished in 2007, and the Kent Avenue Powerhouse – a grand structure completely demolished by 2009. Many of the industrial buildings destroyed throughout the decade were functional, stable, useful structures that could have been redeveloped and given a second life.

Gowanus Lounge is Back (in Little Italy)

01/04/2010 | Comment

My RSS and Twitter feeds are suddenly alive with new posts from Gowanus Lounge. If you go to the site, you’ll see that it has a new design and all new content. (If that picture of Little Italy at the top of the page seems a bit familiar (and yet a little unBrooklyn), you may be remembering this post.)

It turns out that the domain name has been sold by Bob Guskind’s widow, and there is a new proprietor at the lounge. And while the content of the new Gowanus Lounge is certainly not what we all came to expect from Bob’s posts, happily, that historic content is being preserved at a new website (bobguskind.com). It’s the old familiar place, with all the old familiar posts. And that is nice to see.

Heather (who, with her husband, set up the bobguskind.com site) has more details.

Sunset

01/02/2010 | Comment

Sunset, 2 January 2010.
Five development projects, in various states of completion.